Former school board member officially wins seat in SC House
Courtney Waters was officially elected to the represent the House’s 113th District on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Courtney Waters)
South Carolina’s newest legislator is a former Charleston County school board member and the state’s Teach for America director.
Democrat Courtney Waters, 35, officially won a seat Tuesday representing North Charleston in the state House. She was unopposed in the special election after defeating a pair of opponents in January’s Democratic primary.
She expects to be sworn in Tuesday.
Waters paints herself as a Democratic voice willing to reach across the aisle. She said her focus will be education, affordable housing, child care, abortion access, and the environment.
“I’m just looking forward to knowing the system better and figuring out how to make it work for District 113,” she told the SC Daily Gazette Tuesday night.
She will assume the seat left vacant by former Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, who resigned in September amid a state investigation into claims he settled a former client’s lawsuit without telling him, then tried to buy him off to prevent the allegations from becoming public.
Pendarvis won re-election anyway in November as the only candidate on the ballot.
He declined to re-take the seat, triggering the special election.
Waters served on the Charleston County school board from 2020-2024, an experience that she said served as a catalyst for her new role.
“After my time on the school board, I was fortunate that enough people appreciated my service there that folks asked if I’d consider running,” Waters said.
The North Charleston native received nearly 70% of the vote in a three-way primary in January. Michelle Brandt, the state Democratic Party’s third vice chair, was far behind at 28%, followed by Kim Clark, with less than 2% of votes cast. No Republican ran for the heavily Democratic seat.
Waters’ supporters included two Democratic state senators: Deon Tedder, who won a special election in November 2023 for a district that includes North Charleston, and Ed Sutton, who last November won a seat representing areas including downtown Charleston and West Ashley.
Tedder, who first met Waters at a training event held by the Legislative Black Caucus on how to run a campaign, was elected to the state House as Waters won her seat on the school board.
He described Waters as a well-respected, outspoken person who can explain complicated issues to constituents.
“I knew she was the right person for the job,” he said.
